The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1887-04-14
A DARING ~BANK-ROBBER.


The Career OF Isaac Marsh, Who Has
served twelve years In the Penften-
tlary.
Isaac Marsh, bank-robbery, sem
tence seventeen years." methodically
! called out the warden of the Eastern
p~enitentiary as the sheriff of Iioga
county handed him al official docu-
ment. The name, o~ifense, and length
Of sentence were duly recorded in the
big criminal docket. Thousands OF
other names had been enrolled there
some for short periods and others for
life. Many had satisfied the laws man.
| date, others had had their sentences
| COMMITTED by death. Ike Marsh sat in
a dazed condition when the austere
| Judge had pronounced the words: You
| will undergo an Imprisonment OF seven
teen years" The noted t~rain-robber
and handkerchief had a reputation sec
| ond to that of no other criminal for
nerve and daring, but he WINGED under
| the severity of that sentence. Friends
! interceded in his behalf, but an out
| ragged community demanded q rigid en-
! forcement of the law.
The hand of time has recorded twelve
years since the massive gates closed
behind the well-built form of a man in
| the prime of life. 1t will not be long
until the creaking hinges of the same
gates announce the departure of a
gray-haired convict. Recent illness has
wrought a great change in the appear
! ance of Marsh. 1t is doubtful if the
| prisoner could outlive the sentence of
the court were it not that the commute
ton laws relieve him of the ordeal by
cutting off four years and five months.
His life has been prolonged only by
assigning him work in the open air. 1t
has been his task of late to push a broom
around the big yard and keep things in
order. When he casts aside his striped
garb he will find that many of his asso-
GATES of by-gone years, including the
most notorious rogues in the criminal
history of the country, have been called
to a final account.
Marsh's career has been a romantic
one, running a course on two con-
tinents. His record extends back tn T.
ty years. Included among his associ-
ates were such dangerous outlaws as
Dave" Cummins, who not long since
completed a three years sentence in
Illinois; Walter Sheridan, who recently
tell in the west; James Dunlap and
Robert Scott. who are serving q twenty
years sentence for the Northampton
bank robbery, James Brady, in Sing
Sing prison. for seventeen years for
b~ank-robbery, Samnel Perris, alias
.'Wooster Sam," charged with the
murder of a bank cashier in Dexter,
Me-, George Leslie, alias Howard, who
was murdered by his pals for treacl-
cry; "Billy" Forester, in prison in the
east; Max Shinburne, who, after ac-
cumulating a fortune of between g.
900. 600 and So, 900, 900 by breaking in
to banks, purchased a castle in Wur-
temberg, Germany, where he was last
heard of as Baron Won Shinburne;
| Charles Billiard, Tom Biglow, and
Adam Worth, whose aggregate thefts
amounted to many millions of dollars.
Marsh first came into prominence in
1867, when he and his companions
| plundered the Ocean bank, New York,
of $500. OJ0. In the following year the
same gang robbed an express messen-
ger on the New York Central railroad
of ST. 1000. Then came in rapid sue
cession the raids on the Quincy. H.,
bank, netting over $500, 600; the Falls
| City bank, of Louisville, KY. 800, 900;
the White Plains, N. Y. bank, Of over
$500, 600; a bank at Keene, N. H.. of
several thousand dollars, and in 1870
the Boylston bank, of Boston. of $780,
900. Only Ice during these bold raids
did Marsh fall into the clutches of the
law, and that was after the White
Plains bank robbery. He did not long
remain a prisoner, for a gang led b.
| Forester rescued him by tunneiing
under the jail walls.
After the Boylston affair, Marsh,
Worth and 3ullard went abroad for
their health and reasons best known to
themselves and the detectives who were
| seeking an interv ew with them.
Worth travelled extensively, while
| Marsh and Billiard devoted most of
Their time to England, Scotland and
France. They played the part of Amer
lean tourists to such perfection and were
! so liberal in the distribution of their i'll
gotten gains they even hoodwinked the
famous Scotland yard detectives, who
considered themselves especially hon
ored by invitations to dine with the
strangers.
In London they posed as American
land spectators. and shone for q while
in British society circles. even having
the entree to the levees of the American
minister. subsequently they went to
Paris, and during the French exposition
opened an American bar-rOom. Bull
lard's wife, who accompanied her hus-
band abroad, was a charming and vi
vacious woman, whose presence added
greatly to the attractiveness of the
place, which became a resort for fast
Americans. 1t was not long before the
| pol ;ce discovered that the SNOWY bar
| room was merely a blind for a gambling
den, and made 4 descent on the place.
Marsh made his escape, but Billiard
was ent to prison for ayear. The wife
of the lattev realized what she could
from the property, but was robbed on
her way to this country.
Marsh lost no time in returning. He
was financially embarrassed, and began
| plotting for another stake. In a short
time he organized a gang and visited